


A Restless World Like This

by nemeadow



Category: Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Fluff, Or Implied Sexual Content if I chicken out, Plus write what you know-right?, Possibly smut - I think - eventually, Sorry I can't remember all the "u"s in Canadian English, characters are aged up, set in the US
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:53:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26621698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nemeadow/pseuds/nemeadow
Summary: This is the story of Anne and Gilbert and all their friends, if they were from the US and went to an Ivy League college in the 21st Century.
Relationships: Gilbert Blythe/Anne Shirley, Gilbert Blythe/Winifred Rose, Royal "Roy" Gardner/Anne Shirley
Comments: 24
Kudos: 56





	1. Chapter 1

The first week of their freshman year, Gilbert was just a rumor. Anne decided he was some kind of entitled rich-boy jock, because the snippets that reached her through the haze of settling in were that 1) he was on the hockey team, 2) he was allowed to start late despite the school’s reputation for rigid adherence to rules, and 3) according to someone who knew one of her suitemates , he was a pathological liar; the stories he told about his past were a little too out there to believe. She didn’t know what the stories were, but they had already made him a bit of a celebrity, so Anne decided she’d steer very clear. 

Another reason Anne didn’t care if the jock-jerk ever showed up was that he was from the East Coast. She already felt surrounded by coasters. Their parents were hovering during that first week, taking their children out for dinner every night and making deliveries by day; furniture, appliances, carpets - everything necessary to make the shared suites Pinterest-perfect. Anne, on the other hand, had flown in from Iowa on her very first airplane. She brought all her clothes and toiletries in one large green suitcase without wheels, and a matching green garment bag - high school graduation gifts from her very proud parents. It wasn’t so much that she envied the coasters all their stuff; but when she sat on their couch; used their microwave, mini-fridge, or lamp; or walked barefoot across their rug, she knew she was starting off indebted to them, and she didn’t like it.

Diana was alone in the suite when Anne, her luggage, and her parents first arrived. They had just climbed all three flights of marble stairs very slowly for Matthew, as they’d become accustomed to doing. The door was propped open, so Anne pocketed the key she’d just picked up at the check-in table outside the Gothic residence hall. “Hello?” she called as she stepped over the threshold. “Hello!” a friendly voice called back from the first bedroom on the left. The girl stepped out into the common room, hand outstretched. “You must be Anne”. 

“That’s me!” Anne smiled and shook her hand. 

“I’m Diana. Josie and Ruby are just out getting their mailbox keys.” She shook hands with Matthew and Marilla. “You can meet my parents as soon as they’re back from the mall. They’re picking up a few more things for the room.”

Matthew and Marilla smiled and nodded, still out of breath from the climb. They silently looked all around the common room. The walls were oak wainscotting halfway up and then painted eggshell white to the ceiling. The floor was also oak, but much of it had been covered by a colorful rug. Directly across from the door was a heavy wooden desk and chair; to the right of these, a lamp and a small black leather sofa. A set of track lights rested on the sofa, ready to be mounted. The wall across from the bedroom doors was mostly window looking out over the brick courtyard. There was a narrow wooden window-seat there, and off to the side, a mini-fridge with a microwave atop it. A comfy-looking armchair anchored the corner. The wall directly to their right as they stood in the doorway featured a large fireplace with a carved wooden mantle. Anne was enraptured; the Cuthberts were satisfied. 

Diana watched them look around. When they turned back to her, she informed them, “Sadly, the fireplace is now only decorative. Josie and I brought the furniture, since we knew you and Ruby were coming from far away. I hope you like it. Will you be staying for the family banquet, Mr. and Mrs. Cuthbert?” 

“It’s Mr. and Ms., actually,” Marilla explained, “Matthew is my brother. But no, I’m afraid we have to get back to the farm.”

Anne interjected, “It’s harvest time, and Jerry can handle things for a day or two, but any more is really beyond his capacity.”

“Oh, I see. Well, I’m sorry to hear that you won’t be here.” Diana told Marilla. She turned to Anne, “Ruby will also be parent-less, and I’m sure Josie’s parents and mine will be happy to adopt you both.” The Cuthbert’s shared a glance, but Diana didn’t notice, “I think Ruby really wants the top bunk, but she was waiting for you before staking her claim. I bet you’d like to put your stuff away, though.” She gestured towards the other bedroom door. “I’ll just get back to my unpacking while you settle in,” and with a smile, she left them.

\-------

Anne’s suite-family began to gel almost immediately, and she was optimistic that they would be friends for their whole college career. Her roommate was Ruby from Texas; crucially and more precisely, from Austin, Texas. She wore her Tony Lama’s with t-shirts and shorts or mini-skirts. If she had an accent, Anne couldn’t hear it. 

Diana and Josie shared the other bedroom in the suite. Josie was from Connecticut. Very much from Connecticut. In fact, last year, she had been a runner-up in the Miss Connecticut pageant. Her father was a successful businessman who may or may not have had ties to the Mafia. Her mother “ran the household”. 

When Josie first mentioned this, Anne asked, “Like the ladies in Jane Austen novels?” 

Josie rolled her eyes and said, “Well, we do have, you know, toilets and electricity, so no, not at all like that, actually.” Possibly Josie was not a kindred spirit, but Anne was trying to keep an open mind.

Diana was absolutely a kindred spirit, though her lifestyle was much closer to Josie’s than to Anne’s. She was from New Jersey, but her parents had come over from London just a year or two before she was born. Her father was a consultant specializing in something monetization something and her mother was a world-renowned psychologist in a small field studying people with a very specific mental disorder. 

Anne wasn’t sure what to think of any of the parents. The things they said were gracious and welcoming, but their tone was reserved. Anne was familiar with being sized up and found wanting. It wasn’t exactly what was going on here, but something close. She felt like she was always doing things in front of them that were almost right, but just slightly not. She was very sad to say goodbye to Matthew and Marilla, though the sadness was leavened by excitement over being on her own in a much more positive way than all the times before. She was not at all sad when the other parents finally went home. It had been kind of them to “adopt” Ruby and her at the banquet, but that event had been torturous, anyway. So many utensils, and so much unfamiliar food! Anne felt pressured to take very small bites, chew delicately, and make much too much small talk. She couldn’t rely on her usual easy conversational style here; she was sure she’d make a terrible faux pas if she did.

All in all, that week was a whirlwind of activity. There were tours to take and lots of checking in and collecting keys and cards and books and chargers (oops!) all over campus. The suitemates explored all the common rooms in their assigned house, (TV room, buttery, laundry, computer room, etc), where all the on-campus upperclassmen lived. They explored the surrounding streets and parks, and the nearby mall. Usually, they went as a group. In the evenings, they hung out together. 

A few nights after classes started, Anne and Diana were surprised to find themselves alone in the suite. Josie was out with her family and Ruby had a study date with a football player she’d met in Econ 101. After an hour or so of reading on the couch, the girls decided to see what the little sweet shop across the quad had to offer. The evening was warm and the walk was pleasant. Anne was intrigued by the scent of the earth around them; it smelled sort of like roasting coffee beans, but sweeter and more loamy. 

The shop was just a room on the first floor of another freshman residence hall. This one looked more Victorian than Gothic; it was red brick and more rectangular. The room held a long display counter across one side, and four tiny bistro tables with chairs. Aside from a large espresso machine, there were shelves of candy and bagged snacks behind the counter, baked goods on racks atop it, and frozen treats inside.

“Gelato?” Anne whispered to her new friend, “It looks like ice cream. Is it just ice cream?” 

Diana smiled, “Better. Try it; you’ll see!” She turned to the girl behind the counter, “Single scoop of lemon cheesecake.”

“Hmmm,” Anne was grateful that there were only a few options, “I think...a single scoop of dark chocolate salted caramel, please.”

When they had their treats and were seated at one of the tables, Anne took a lick. “Oh, wow. Yes, very much like ice cream, but...denser, more intense.” She licked again. “The mouth feel is incredible! And so rich! I thought maybe they were using those tiny scoops to serve it because we’re at an elite school with snooty food portions, but this amount of something sooooo rich and decadent might be just right after all.”

Diana laughed, “Snooty portions? What are you talking about?”

“You know,” Anne explained, “Like, in the foodie magazines, there will be a picture of a huge white plate with like, a little haystack of something resembling shredded veggies and lo mein noodles in the middle, and just a drizzle of some frou-frou sauce across it. I always think how I’d eat it in a single bite, and even if it was the most delicious thing I’d ever tried, I’d still be hungry.” 

“Oh, those. Yes, well, in some cases it’s actually the same principle as the gelato. The food is so rich, a little truly is enough. And then sometimes the meal has several courses, so each one needs to be fairly small...why are you looking at me like that?”

Anne hadn’t realized she was staring at Diana with her mouth agape. She quickly closed it and looked deep down into her cone, blushing, “Sorry. I’ve never known anyone who’d actually eaten those meals, at those restaurants.” She shook her head, “I guess we’re really not in Kansas anymore, Toto.”

“I thought you were from Iowa.” 

Anne looked up sharply to see a smirking Diana, and the two exploded into hysterical laughter.

After a couple of minutes, Diana dabbed at her eyes with a napkin, “Oh, my! That wasn’t even very funny. The academic pressure really must be getting to us!”

“On our third day of courses?” Anne snickered, “Ohhhh, things are not looking good for us, Diana Barry!”

“Oof, haha, no they are not, Anne Shirley-Friggin-Cuthbert!” and the laughter began again.

Anne and Diana closed down the sweet shop, splitting their time between sharing stories and gasping for air in the midst of a fit of hilarity. Darkness had just settled over campus for their return trip. At the halfway point, they reached a statue of one of the university’s celebrated old-dead-white guys. Anne stopped to eyeball the pedestal. “Huh.” She reached a hand out to touch the cool marble and looked up at the seated gentleman. “Let’s sit on his lap.” She lifted her shoe to a ridge on the base.

“What? No!” Diana looked around frantically to see if anyone was watching. There were only a handful of students walking on the pathways across the grass, and they all had their heads down. “Anne, you can’t - someone will see, and there has to be some law against it! They love this guy. Weren’t you paying attention on the tour? He’s supposed to inspire us all. No way they want you up there! Anne, come on!” 

At this point, Anne was easily up and seated precariously; the old guy’s hands were inconveniently placed. “Come on, Diana, there’s nobody around, and this is hardly suspension-worthy. Look,” she stood, “I’ll stand beside him now and you can sit on his lap.”

Diana was still looking up at her dubiously.

“Diana! Don’t you want to be able to tell your children and grandchildren that you did this once? I’m sure it has to be an item on a checklist of ‘things to do before you graduate’ somewhere. Besides, if we do get in trouble, we’ll be in trouble together. How bad could it be?” She held out her hand, “Come on, you’re brave enough to be thinking about double majoring - this should be a piece of cake!”

Diana smiled, took one more look around, and grabbed Anne’s hand. As they arranged themselves on the statue, Diana giggled, “You’re right. This is nothing. I am brave.”

“Diana Barry is brave!” Anne yelled out to the empty quad.

Diana laughed, then yelled, “I am brave!” She craned her neck around to look up at Anne. “We should sing something. What should we sing?”

Anne laughed, “YES! Now you’re getting into the spirit. Um...well, since you brought up Johnny Mathis just a few minutes - ” she looked at her watch, “or maybe an hour ago,” She took a deep breath, then belted out, “When I fall in love…”

Diana joined in at “it will be forever,”

The duet continued:  
Or I'll never fall in love  
(pause to laugh and take a breath, and then, grandly...)  
In a restless world like this is  
Love is ended before it's begun  
And too many moonlight kisses  
(several air kisses)  
Seem to cool in the warmth of the sun  
(back of the hand to the brow)

When I give my heart (hand over heart)  
it will be completely  
Or I'll never give my heart  
And the moment I can feel that  
you feel that way too  
Is when I fall in love with you

(Anne yells, “Once more, so the whole campus can hear!”)  
And the moment I can feel that   
you feel that way too-oo-ooo  
(free arm stretched all the way out)  
Is when I fall in looooove wiiiith yoooooou  
(scramble down from the statue because that beam of light over by the sweet shop might possibly be campus security)

The girls ran the rest of the way across the quad and through the archway leading to their residence hall, stifling giggles all the way. They arrived just in time to see two men sharing a hug outside a car in the circular driveway. One of the men walked around to the driver’s seat and got in. The other waved as the car drove away, then settled the strap of a gigantic duffle bag over his shoulder.

For some reason, the scene stopped Anne and Diana in their tracks. It had been a very common spectacle just last week when everyone was moving in, although most of that had, admittedly, happened in the daylight. Maybe it was the recent fear of being seen that made them freeze and watch; maybe it was the fact that there was nobody else in the courtyard. Whatever it was, they realized that they were gawking just in time, and resumed walking towards their door before the new arrival turned around. As Anne inserted her key into the lock, she heard, “Hey Carrots, could you hold the door please?”

She yanked her key out, and spun around to face the offending party, “WHAT did you just call me?”

The young man with the duffle bag took a step back, “Um, I’m sorry? I called you Carrots? But you didn’t seem to hear me when I called you ‘Miss’, and I was afraid I’d miss my chance to get in. The place looks deserted.” He gave a little apologetic smile. Diana smiled back. Anne did not. 

Instead, she crossed her arms over her chest and demanded, “Are you sure you’re in the right place? The residents of this hall are generally intelligent enough to know that a person is unlikely to ingratiate themselves to a stranger they are hoping will do them the favor of sneaking them in at all hours of the night by comparing said stranger to a common garden vegetable.”

“Are they, though?” Diana asked. Startled, Anne looked at her as if she had just kicked a puppy. “I...but,” Diana spluttered, “...I mean, have you met Billy Andrews?”

Anne snorted, “Okay you may have a point. But you,” she pointed at her slanderer, “have no excuse. Who the hell are you, anyway?”

He dropped his duffle on the sidewalk and extended his hand. There was a distinct twinkle in his eye, “Gilbert. Gilbert Blythe. And, just so I don’t ever again accidentally offend you by calling you anything other than your proper name, who the hell are you, too?”

Diana laughed. Anne rolled her eyes, but shook the offered hand. “Anne. With an ‘e’. Shirley-Cuthbert.”

“Pleased to meet you, I think, Anne with an ‘e’ Shirley-Cuthbert. And...?” 

“Diana Barry.” Gilbert and Diana shook hands, “We heard you were starting late. Come on in,” she unlocked the door, “I understand you’re from New Jersey, like me?” 

“That’s right. From Chester. How about you?” Gilbert picked up his bag again and began to follow her into the entryway, but stopped to hold the door open for Anne with his free hand. She nodded as she passed by him, glancing up at the last moment to catch him watching her. His eyes held hers for a beat. She looked away and rushed to climb the stairs ahead of Diana, who was saying, “...my family often visits the u-pick orchards up there. Not this year, I guess.”   
_______

The suite was full of smells. Ruby hadn’t had time to stop for dinner, but knew better than to go to a party on an empty stomach, so she had nuked something heavy on the curry. The evening was warm, so that coffee-loam aroma wafted through the open windows. And then there were the party prep scents; cologne and hair products and body lotions and deodorant...somehow, it all melded together harmoniously, and imparted a sense of anticipation. 

The fact that the floor was shaking from the music in the suite directly below them just added to the excitement. The hall was co-ed, and some of the suites were gender-neutral, but 3rd floor was mostly boys; 4th mostly girls. The suite downstairs was hosting a “we made it through the first week” party, and from the sound of things, it was off to a good start.

All the makeup that Anne owned in the world fit in a small cosmetics bag; Ruby had even less. They were ready well before Josie and Diana, who each had an extensive makeup kit. “My face is my canvas, and makeup is my art,” Josie had explained. For Diana, who had suffered from terrible acne until her doctor found the right prescription, it was more of a security blanket.

Josie tried to convince Anne and Ruby that they should go ahead without her. “It’s one flight downstairs. I think I can find my way without holding anyone’s hand.”

Ruby rolled her eyes, “It’s not about being scared, Josie. We’re the Four Musketeers, remember? All for one, and one for all. Especially for our first official party making a first impression on some of the people we’re going to be seeing for the next four years. We show up as a team, and that’s that!” She crossed her arms and plopped down on the couch to wait.

Anne sat next to her in solidarity, “I am one hundred percent in support of Ruby’s thinking. And also not afraid to admit that I’m a little nervous.” 

Ruby smiled and reached out to hold her hand, “It’s only been a week, but I can’t imagine how anyone could meet you and not love you right away!”

Anne gave a shaky little laugh and squeezed Ruby’s hand, “Oh, I could tell you stories...but not tonight! I’m on full positive-self-talk tonight. And I’m very glad I’ll be with friends who can help me out when I inevitably fail to keep it up.”

Diana came out to the common room, “You’re gorgeous, Anne. And funny and smart and you smell good.” She laughed. “Seriously, the compliments write themselves.”

“OK, OK,” Josie called. “You’re all being so disgusting that I will rush the mascara, if you insist on waiting! Seriously, you’re making me look forward to finals week when I expect us all to be on each other’s last fucking nerve.” But she was smiling as she emerged, “Let’s go, Musketeers.”

The boys’ suite was already crowded when they arrived. It looked exactly like their own suite, but was decorated completely differently. It smelled different, too. A very tall boy with a very large adam’s apple who was standing near the door welcomed them, and pointed them to the back bedroom for “refreshments”. Everything was a blur of colors and sounds and unfamiliar faces as the girls entered the room, and Anne felt slightly disoriented. Then she spotted Gilbert. He was half-sitting on the window seat, a bottle of beer in hand, laughing with a girl she had seen on their floor but not yet met. Anne turned back to follow her friends into the bedroom, and things somehow seemed to have come into sharper focus. She smiled at some faces she recognized. 

“Hey, S-C!” the boy handing out bottles of beer from the top bunk called. 

She looked up. “Hey MacPherson,” she answered, “beer me!” She took the bottle he offered. “I’m very impressed. You rich boys don’t care about the economy of a keg?”

“Oh,” Moody assured her, “There are definitely kegs. We just thought we’d be classy at first, to dazzle everyone. And please, I’m on scholarship. Hoping to get a work-study job next week. My suite is 75% poor. This suite is all money, though.”

“This isn’t yours?” Anne asked.

“Nope. The whole floor is helping with the party, but mine is next door.” He handed out more bottles to people around her, and Anne knew she was in the way. But Moody leaned down, “Hey, come up for a second, would you?”

She hesitated for a moment. After all, she’d only known Moody for a few days. They had one poli sci course together, and had bumped into each other a couple of times on the residence hall stairs. Then she realized how paranoid she was being. He wasn’t going to try anything in full view of the crowd in a room where he was actually very busy dispensing beer from a large cooler. She climbed up next to him, glad she hadn’t uncapped her bottle yet. 

“Hey Red,” she heard from the back of the room, “If you’re in bed with MacPherson, you’re going to need something stronger than a beer!” Billy held up a bottle of vodka and wiggled his eyebrows. Some of the people around him laughed.

Anne shook her head, “I’m good.”

“I’ll bet you are,” he said, then called to Moody with a wink, “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t, alright?” 

Moody blinked at Billy, then turned back to Anne, muttering, “I can’t think of a single thing on that list…” Anne laughed, and he continued, “So, uh, you’re rooming with Diana, right?” They both turned their heads to watch Diana making her way out the door with a diet coke. As if she felt their eyes on her, she looked back over her shoulder.

“I’ll be right out,” Anne called. “Just checking in with Moody.”

Diana laughed and shrugged, “It’s okay; enjoy yourself. We’re all here - we’ll find each other.” She continued out to the common room. 

“Yeah, so that answers my question.” Moody smirked. “Anyway, do you know if she has a boyfriend?” He offered her a bottle opener.

“Oh, I see,” she popped the cap off her beer and took a drink. “No, she’s single. But I’m not going to play matchmaker. No privileged information. No subterfuges. She’s nice. If you want to get together, you’re going to have to talk to her.” 

Moody nodded, then frowned, “Her family’s flush, though, right?”

Anne wrinkled her nose, “Just talk to her.” She slid down off the bunk, careful not to spill her beer, nor to land on anyone.

The common room was even more crowded now. Anne was searching for a head of black hair, but naturally, Diana spotted her first. She had just made it to the fireplace. ”What have I missed?” Anne asked.

Well, “Diana looked around the room, “Ruby and Josie are having a lively discussion about some English professor’s beardruff with the two Pauls who live on this floor. I met Jane,” she pointed at the girl who had been speaking to Gilbert earlier, “and Tillie, the girl standing next to her. They’re in the suite across from us. Really nice.” Anne nodded. “Oh, and - good news, Gilbert has a girlfriend.”

Anne snorted, “He’s been here, what? Two days? More likely he’s got a harem by now.”

“No. Just the one.” 

Anne’s eyes went wide. Diana’s lips had not moved. The voice of the person who had just spoken was 1) much deeper than Diana’s, 2) right behind Anne, and 3) Gilbert’s.

She felt the color rise to her cheeks, but then spun around on her heel and glared at him, “It’s rude to eavesdrop, you know.”

His eyebrows shot up. “Oh, really, Anne-with-an-e-Shirley-Cuthbert? I’m rude for accidentally overhearing your snarky remark?”

She opened her mouth to snap back, then thought better of it. “All right, points for remembering my whole name and yes, I suppose that was rude of me.” Then, barely audibly, “Sorry.”

Gilbert grinned, “Apology accepted. I mean, it was a sort of flattering insult.” 

Anne’s mouth dropped open, and she began, “It wasn’t...I wasn’t…”

Gilbert interrupted, “So Diana, why is it good news that I have a girlfriend?”

“Um.” She looked between the two of them, “Well, just a minute ago I was thinking it might be nice for both of you to have a ‘safe’ person to take to the couples kinds of things we might be doing. I mean it would be safe in the way I was thinking - you’re both involved with someone else. You could commiserate about the pitfalls of long-distance relationships. But...if you’re going to kill each other, I guess maybe not so safe in all the other ways.”

“Oh.” He looked at Anne, “You have a...significant other?” 

For a second, Anne thought she saw Gilbert’s shoulders sink. But no, his expression was just politely interested.

“Yeah. Roy. He’s back in Iowa. Is your girlfriend in New Jersey?”

“Yes, but only because she’s attending Princeton. Winnie’s British.”

“Oh. Wow. Two geniuses in love. A match made in heaven.” Anne joked.

“Because she’s at Princeton? Did you forget that you and I are both here?” He held her gaze for just a moment, then, “And, like, everyone in this room?” He swept his beer out to indicate all the people around them, and it sloshed a little onto a girl standing with her back to them. 

The girl turned around, annoyed, then saw his horrified expression and giggled. “Got a little carried away, Eyebrows?”

“I’m so sorry!” he said, “Let me see if I can find a napkin.”

She held up a napkin, “It’s okay. Just finished my cookie.” She wiped the beer from her arm and turned back to her conversation.

Anne snickered, “Eyebrows. That’s a good one.”

“I thought you didn’t like nicknames.” Gilbert weakened his cause by expressing his irritation with a raised eyebrow.

“Only vegetable-related ones. Well, actually, what I hate is being hassled for the color of my hair.”

“Which is stupid, because it’s absolutely glorious!” Diana exclaimed. 

Oh, yes. Why was Anne startled to see that Diana was still there? Of course she was. Anne was relieved, actually. She smiled at her, “Thank you, my friend. I’m glad someone thinks so. But wait - we’re talking right past the most important thing! Did that girl say cookies? Where?” She grabbed Diana’s hand and started leading her back towards the bedrooms.

“Wait,” Gilbert called after her. 

Anne turned back to look at him. 

His hand went to the back of his neck, “About being a safe person? I’m brave enough to risk it if you are.”

She considered for a moment, then shrugged, “Brave is my middle name, in fact. It’s Anne-with-an-e-Brave-Shirley-Cuthbert. Don’t forget to say all of that next time.”

He just smiled and nodded.

When Anne turned back around, Diana’s lips were pursed. “What?” Anne asked.

“Uh. I’m really beginning to doubt the wisdom of my safe person idea.”

Anne laughed, “I admit, he’s annoying, but we’re not really going to kill each other. And it might be nice to have someone who understands all the long-distance dating ish.”

“Yeah, that’s not why I’m worried.”

Anne pulled her brows together into a scowl. Then it suddenly cleared. “Hey, Diana, have you met Moody?” 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Long distance dating is hard! Gilbert and Anne have a conversation about it, and learn more about each other.

“Miss Cuthbert,”

“It’s Shirley-Cuthbert.”

“You want to pass this class? Then your name is whatever I say it is. Now finish your exam, Carrots. Two minutes left.”

“But...but I just started. And none of these questions were covered in class…”

“They were in the study sessions. Every night at midnight. If you didn’t go to the study sessions, there’s really nothing I can-”

“-closing in fifteen minutes. Please check out needed materials and make your way to an exit.”

Anne sat up with a start, blinking her eyes open. She wiped the drool from the cheek that had been resting against the pages of a large, open book. Oh, thank goodness; it was just a dream. Many of the dreams she remembered lately were about not having any idea what was going on in class. There were lots of tests and a reasonable amount of nakedness involved. Wait. She looked at her watch. “Ah, shit!”

She threw her things into her backpack and took off through the stacks. If only Ruby hadn’t deserted her, she would never have fallen asleep, but Ruby hated being in the stacks after dark. The walls were thick grey stone punctuated by tall, narrow, leaded-glass windows. Rows upon rows of books towered above the students and shut out the view of any other parts of the library. For Ruby, it was creepy claustrophobia central, especially at night.

Anne, on the other hand, felt like Belle in the beast’s castle. She had once read “If you fear scarcity, seek abundance”, which she thought was completely ridiculous. “Nice,” she’d ranted to Marilla, “Hey there, poor people. Just find abundance. Brilliant. I wonder why nobody living in poverty ever thought of that. I’m sure if they’d just ‘seek abundance’ instead of wasting all their time on the sisyphean task of overcoming the innumerable obstacles our society continually thrusts upon them, they could quit their whining and live in bliss!”

In the stacks, though, she felt the comfort of incredible abundance, and she was keenly aware of the privilege. It was a vast improvement over the two-story, industrial library built in nineteen-seventy-something back in her hometown. Surely the answers to all of life’s questions had to be here, somewhere, tucked away in various books across the many floors. If she hadn’t had assignments that steered her to specific sections, Anne thought she might have drowned in this vast epistemic sea.

Just now, however, she needed to row to shore. She ran down the stairs and through the wide open cathedral-like nave. As she pushed through the heavy wooden doors and started down the stairs to the Green, she pulled out her phone to text Diana. Apparently, she had slept through a few notifications.

[Diana]: Hey, we’re leaving in 15 minutes.

[Diana]: 10

[Diana]: 5

[Diana]: Okay, we’ll wait for 10.

[Diana]: 5 more

[Diana]: Did you fall asleep studying? We’re leaving now. Meet us there if you want.

[Diana]: But please let me know you’re OK.

Anne sighed and slowed her steps.

[Anne]: Yup, fell asleep. I’m so sorry! But I’m fine. Have I missed the first act?

[Diana]: Oh, good! That you’re OK. You haven’t missed it yet, but -

[Diana]: never mind. Yes, you have.

[Anne]: Dang it! I think I’ll just go home, then. So much homework. Enjoy the show! See you later.

[Diana]: See you!

Oh, well. From the quiet of the stacks to the quiet of an empty suite, then. She’d pick up her studying where she left off, and try very hard not to do the same with the nap. An uneven flagstone in the walkway nearly tripped her - again; they seemed to have it in for her. Like the pigeons in the daytime. It was eerie how they just stood on the path, eyeing her, and waited till the very last minute to get out of her way. Not, she had informed Diana, natural self-respecting avian behavior! Also, the squirrels here were the wrong color. But at least she still had some access to nature. There were plenty of trees. Top-tier education or not, she wouldn’t have lasted this whole two months if there hadn’t been enough trees. She took a deep breath and marvelled at how even halfway across the country from home, autumn smelled like autumn.

Anne risked the treachery of the flagstones to look up at the stars. They were so much dimmer than at home. She knew if she were better at remembering constellations, she’d be amazed at how many were too faint to make out. At least she was almost always able to find Ursa Major. She liked to look up at this constellation or the moon and imagine Matthew or Marilla at home - or Roy, of course - looking up and thinking of her.

She hoped that Roy was outside somewhere; she’d rather not picture him in the large old house he and his roommates lovingly (?) referred to as the Shit Shack. She didn’t like spending time there. The boys took turns with household chores, in theory. What actually happened was that they took turns avoiding every single household chore for as long as they could hold out. Each had a different level of tolerance for filth, but all of these were far, far beyond Anne’s. Dishes grew mold in the sink. Garbage rotted in bags just inside the back door (15 steps or so to the garbage can, but why be practical when you can be stubborn instead?). The places where their friend’s dog had puked or peed on the carpet almost always got wiped up, but none of the roommates seemed to be acquainted with carpet cleaner. There were many interesting smells.

Roy’s room was better than the common areas, but Anne always had to stop herself from wondering how long it had been since he’d washed any bedding. Not that she was intimately familiar with his bedding. When Anne had made what he saw as one too many “helpful suggestions”, Roy would compare his house to Green Gables. “How can you stand to live in that sterile, scrubbed-to-within-an-inch-of-its-life-and-then-hermetically-sealed house? Marilla never sits down; there’s always some microscopic spot to wipe off the floor or table. I swear she follows me around with a mop. Heaven forbid I shift a couch cushion even an inch one way or another. I’m actually surprised she doesn’t have those plastic covers over the couch. Besides, Anne, you know me. I’m too much in my head most of the time to worry about some minor mess around me. Us creatives need some chaos! When I’m rich and famous, I’ll hire a housekeeper. In the meantime, a little bacteria is good for the immune system!”

To which Anne would reply with something like, “Wow, I’m no medical expert, but I’m pretty sure black mold spores only have a downside; Marilla is not that obsessed with cleaning; and I’m creative too, you know, but this level of nastiness would give me a good dose of depression-induced writer’s block.”

“Can’t see shit but you want some, huh? Why do you have to be like that? I know you’re better than me at almost everything. You have your life together. You’re ace-ing school; got into every college you applied to. Maybe I could get A’s if I tried, but it’s not me. You have a family that cares about you and the money to go to a fancy school. Being creative in film is my thing, OK? My only thing. It’s who I am, at the core. Your stories are just one of the many things you’re good at. Can I have one thing?”

And then Anne would feel guilty because Roy really had so little. She had been rescued from the group home where they met. She couldn’t have asked for better parents than the Cuthberts. Roy, on the other hand, had bounced around in a couple of foster homes until his mother remarried and convinced his caseworker that she was serious about taking care of her son again. As Roy told it, the bliss stage of their blissful reunion had only lasted for about two months, and he’d emancipated himself the minute he was legally old enough. A classmate’s older brother was living at the Shit Shack then, and had invited him to stay on their couch until someone moved out. As the older boys moved on, Roy’s friends took their places (and assumed the rent). The rest was history.

At any rate, Anne preferred to imagine Roy out in the countryside somewhere after a drive down the ubiquitous gravel roads, spread out on the still-warm hood of his car, looking up at the stars. She considered texting him to ask where he was right now, but then she’d have to keep checking her phone till he answered, and reply quickly so he wouldn’t worry. She didn’t have anything important to say, anyway. Actually, if he was out stargazing in the fields, he might not even have reception. She could ask when she called him tomorrow night, as scheduled.

She had survived the flagstones once again to arrive at her courtyard. There were several students milling around, and music played in the shops across the street. She unlocked the door, and as it closed behind her, most of the sound faded away. The stairway was quiet. When she reached the second floor landing, she heard a male voice.

“No, just tired. I swear. Practice is intense; classes are intense.”

Anne recognized the voice; it was Gilbert. She wasn’t sure whether to soften her footsteps so as not to disturb him, or to stomp loudly so he wouldn’t be surprised. He must have heard the door, though. Probably best just to walk normally.

“Right. I need to get back to that bio reading...okay, bye then. Me too. G’night Win.”

As she continued up the stairs, Anne expected to hear him returning to his room, but when she came around on the third food landing, he was still sitting on the steps with his head resting on his folded arms. Without looking up, he scooted over for her to get by. Instead she stopped and asked, “Everything OK?”

“Oh,” he looked up, “It’s you.” He rubbed his face, “Yeah, you know, just have to get my naps in when I can.”

“Right,” she smiled, “it’s so comfy here on the cold marble, how could you resist? Although, to be fair, it’s not that much worse than the wooden chairs over in the stacks, where I just had a super-fantastic school-related nightmare.”

“Oh? Were you in your underwear?”

“Why is that the first thing everyone asks? No!” She sat down on the step next to him, “Not this time.”

“Actually, I ask because I think the interpretation is obvious.” The corner of his lip turned up, “Mostly.” Anne punched his arm and he laughed as he rubbed the spot, “Okay then, was the professor one of ours or someone from high school?”

“High school. Geometry. Mr. Phillips. Such an asshole!”

He nodded, “I’m haunted by my old Latin teacher. That class was very much like a nightmare. I thought I understood everything as we went over it in class, but then I couldn’t get above a C on any of the tests.”

“Ouch! I suppose you were used to being a straight-A student, too.”

“Of course!” Suddenly the twinkle disappeared from his eyes, and he looked down at his shoes, “Most years.”

Anne wrinkled her brow, but decided not to push. “Yeah, me too.”

There was companionable silence then for a little while.

“Um,” Anne pointed at the phone lying on the stairs between them, “Want to confide in your resident safe person? I know for me this long-distance dating is no walk in the park. I might have - accidentally - overheard the end of that conversation. How are you guys doing?”

“I seem to remember something you said once about the rudeness of eavesdropping,” he teased, but then sighed, “I don’t know. It’s tough. Our beginning-of-the-year conversations were fine. There was so much new stuff going on to talk about. Lately, though, everything’s routine. I run the same drills at practice. So does she. I go to the same classes. So does she. Who wants to hear about papers or tests? I wrote things. I did OK. So did she. Plus, what you so rudely overheard,” he waited for Anne’s grin before returning it and continuing, “was the truth. Things are intense. I am tired.” As if for emphasis, he stretched his arms overhead and yawned. “Same for you, or different difficult?”

Anne leaned forward and rested her chin in her hand. “Different, I guess. Roy always has something to talk about. He’s interested in all kinds of things, and he’s got lots of opinions -”

“Two peas in a pod.”

“Hey! Interrupting is also rude.”

“Sorry.”

“Anyway, as I was saying, we really haven’t run out of things to talk about. But, I guess - I don’t know - everything is so different here. I feel like I’m in a whole nother world. It’s just...weird. To hear him talk about home. Like, everything changed for me, but not for him. I don’t know. By the end of a conversation, I’m starting to feel like Iowa Anne again, but then it’s jarring to shift back to this reality.” Gilbert watched her eyes, which seemed to be fixated on the water fountain by his suite door, as they lost focus. He waited until she shook herself and turned to him with a little laugh, “So, yeah, a little bumpy, but not in the same way as you.”

He nodded, “So what is happening back in the green hills of Iowa?”

"Yellow, actually, this time of year. The main crops have been harvested. So, you know, Marilla and Matthew - and Jerry - are busy with the hayrack rides and corn mazes and u-pick pumpkins - “

“What?! I thought you lived on a regular ‘farm’ farm. Like, giant machinery and tanks of insecticide and satellite crop monitoring -”

“You know about satellite crop monitoring?! Nobody here knows about satellite crop monitoring! How?”

“New Jersey - the Garden State. Believe it or not, I’m a farm boy. Well, more of an orchard boy, but I know something about our neighbors’ farms.”

“Green Gables is a working farm, but it’s all organic produce and flowers and farm goods. We have a gift shop and everything.”

“Us too. Stone House Orchards. For our - you guessed it - stone house.”

“Wow. Did you name it?”

“Really?”

“Well, like, when you were little or something.”

“Even little me was not that basic. It used to be Blythe Orchards but when my brother Bash took over, he changed it.”

“Without talking it over with you?”

Gilbert chuckled, “Uh, no. But you should have seen how excited he got when it occurred to him. ‘Stone house, stone fruits. It’s poetry, Blythe!’ I didn’t have the heart. Now it’s great - Mary and I tease him ruthlessly. About all kinds of things, really, but this is a good one.”

“Mary?”

“His wife. Oh wait,” he picked up his phone and started tapping, then scrolling, “Look - that’s Bash and Mary,” he held it out to Anne briefly, then pulled it back and scrolled some more, “And this is Delphine.” He held out the phone again, and this time Anne took it from him so she could look more closely. Gilbert smiled proudly.

“Oh, my god, she’s the cutest baby I’ve ever seen!”

“Yeah,” his smile widened.

Anne kept the phone, and he seemed very relaxed about letting her flip through the photos. After the first few, she looked up at him, “Anything you don’t want me to see on here?”

He shrugged, “I don’t think so.”

"Really?”

“Nope. I don’t take a lot of pictures. It’s probably mostly Delly, with a few other family and friends, and Winnie. Nothing incriminating.”

“Not even - I don’t know, a tube of fungal cream so you won’t forget the brand when you’re at the store? That’s the kind of thing that would embarrass me. Or,” she pulled her phone out of her pocket and found the photo, “something like this.”

As he took the phone from her outstretched hand, Gilbert squinted a little, “An extreme close-up of?” He looked up at her, “I hesitate to guess the body part.”

Anne laughed, “It’s my cheek.” Gilbert’s eyebrows shot up. She grabbed her phone back. “Facial, of course! I was trying to count the freckles, to compare to last month, and attempting it in the mirror was giving me eye strain.”

“So, you’re only going to let me see the one photo on your phone that you are embarrassed about?”

“Oh, that’s not the only one. But just a minute; let me look.” her finger slid over the screen, she stopped to delete a few, and finally handed the phone back to him. “Okay, anything from June till today is safe.”

After a moment of scanning photos, Anne laughed, “This isn’t embarrassing?” She held up the picture of him and a young woman. He was wearing a ridiculously fake wig of bushy white hair with an accompanying bushy white mustache. His companion stood several feet away from him, gleefully aiming a very fluffy-looking cream pie at his face.

Gilbert looked up. “What? My brilliant Einstein costume? It was Pi Day at Princeton. I blended in with all the other Einsteins beautifully.” He turned back to Anne’s phone, adding, “Plus, Winnie has terrible aim. With pie, anyway.” 

Anne laughed and contemplated the photo some more. She enlarged it to better see Winnie’s face. Then she pulled Gilbert’s face into focus. They both looked relaxed. Happy. Carefree. She tapped the photo back to its original proportions and moved on to the next.

When Anne’s suitemates plus Tillie and Jane arrived at the landing much later, they found the pair huddled shoulder-to-shoulder laughing over Gilbert’s phone. Anne looked up, “Oh, how was it? I’m so sorry I missed it!”

“Hilarious!” Ruby exclaimed. “I know I cry easily - and beautifully,” she smiled coyly with her hand on her cheek, batting her eyelashes facetiously.

“Absolutely!” Anne laughed.

“...but this show had me in tears of laughter almost the whole time!So much more fun than studying for midterms!”

Josie sighed, “Way to set the bar high, Ruby. Can you name anything that wouldn’t be more fun than studying for midterms? Poking my eye with a sharp stick sounds better at this point.”

“Well then, Josie,” Gilbert asked, “What did you think of the show?”

She shrugged, “Some parts were funny. Some were lame. It was fine.”

“Speaking of fine,” offered Tillie, “that tall guy was! Oh, so fine. I was too busy watching his muscles flex to even know if he was funny.”

Josie crossed her arms, “The tall guy, Tillie? Could you be more specific? Nobody in the crew was that hot.”

“I can’t be more specific. I told you, his muscles hypnotized me. I don’t remember any other details. He was tall. He had muscles. He was beautiful. That really should be enough. To each his own, I guess. I’d happily be his own! Diana, why did you have to be so cruel and hurry us home so quickly? If we’d stayed, maybe I could’ve gotten his number.”

Diana, smiling, shook her head, “Homework, Tillie? Midterms? You can dream of Mr. Biceps later tonight, but I’m guessing there’s still a book or two needing your attention.”

“Hmm. I didn’t say anything about biceps. You noticed him too, didn’t you? But yes, yes, Diana downer, you’re right. I’ve got to face that enormous stack of econ homework. Ugh!” She started up the stairs.

Jane followed, helpfully offering, “If you had done it this afternoon instead of arranging your Saturday plans with that frat boy, you wouldn’t be suffering now.”

“It’ll all be worth it on Saturday!”

“We missed you.” Ruby patted Anne’s shoulder as she passed on her way up. Josie was right behind her.

Anne called up the stairwell, “Next time, stick around in the library to keep me awake!”

“Not after dark. I have boundaries!”

Anne turned back around. Gilbert was asking Diana, “So, how did Moody do?”

“He was funny. Not the funniest, but he didn’t embarrass himself. You should have been there.”

“I’ll be at the matinee on Sunday. Too much homework to do after practice on weekdays!”

Diana raised an eyebrow. She looked at Anne, then back at Gilbert. “Yeah, homework.” The pair just smiled benignly up at her. She sighed, “Okay, well, I’d better finish mine. See you soon, Anne. Goodnight Gilbert.”

“Goodnight.”

Once Diana had passed her on the stairway, Anne looked back down at Gilbert’s phone, “Where were we? Oh, yes, back at the eponymous stone house of Stone House Orchards. I like the orange door.”

“Thanks. I have to admit, customers seem to like the name. I guess it invokes a cozy cottage or something. And admittedly Blythe Orchards wasn’t that creative, anyway. I give Bash a hard time, but he’s really a brilliant businessman. If he hadn’t taken over, I would have had to sell the old place. He’s made it a success.”

“And...how is he your brother? I think you’ve left out some things.”

“Oh, yeah,” he chuckled, “there’s a very long story there. He’s not actually my brother by blood, but I can’t imagine being closer to anyone, no matter how much DNA we shared. He sort of...rescued me - from myself, I guess. After my dad died. I met him in Trinidad.” He stifled a yawn.

Anne groaned, “You’re killing me, orchard boy! I have enough questions about everything you’ve just said to keep us here all night, but it’s getting late and one of the things I believe I overheard when I first came in was that you still have bio reading? Was that the truth?” Anne stood and held out her hand,

“Of course!” he feigned offense as he took her hand and let her help him up to his feet. “So now you think I’m both bad at naming things and a liar?”

Instead of laughing as Gilbert expected her to, Anne looked at him seriously, head tilted a little to one side. She still held his hand. “No. No, I don’t think you are a liar”.

He blinked. “I...uh...thank you.” They both let go, “For...stopping to talk.”

“Anytime,” she smiled, “Good luck with your reading. Try not to fall asleep.” As she walked up the steps, she whispered menacingly, “Sum, es, est, sumas…”

“Futue te ipsum!” He yelled up after her. As he turned to open the door to his suite, he was smiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anne and Gilbert are speaking Latin at the end. Anne gives the declension of "to be" (I am, you are, one is, we are...) and Gilbert says roughly "go fuck yourself". 
> 
> Thank you so much for continuing to read this story! I know I am very, very slow, and I deeply appreciate your patience (and hope you'll accept my apologies for that!) 
> 
> I hope you enjoy the new chapter. I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments, and if you're happy with what you've read so far, please leave a kudo.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy this, because it's so much fun to write! I promise to finish Ought Summer; I just wanted to see if I could write modern Anne and Gilbert. 
> 
> I LOVE comments and kudos. If you want to find me on Twitter, I'm @nemeadow2


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